87 - ROUSSEAU (Jean-Jacques). Autograph manuscript. One page on the right half.

ROUSSEAU (Jean-Jacques). Autograph manuscript. One page on the right half. EVIDENCE OF THE PREPARATORY WORK CARRIED OUT BY ROUSSEAU FOR MADAME DUPIN, WHO WAS CONSIDERING WRITING A DEFENSE OF THE FEMALE CONDITION. French translation of a passage from Chapter VII of Justinian’s Novella CXVII, part of the Corpus Juris Civilis. “Upon the dissolution of a marriage, let there be no disputes regarding THE SUPPORT OF THE CHILDREN, but let them inherit from their parents and be, without difficulty, SUPPORTED AT THE FATHER’S EXPENSE, AND BY THE MOTHER if she is not the cause of the divorce and does not remarry. But if it is proven that the mother is the cause of the divorce, the children shall remain with their father. If the father is poor and the mother rich, the children shall be supported by the mother at her own expense; just as wealthy children are obligated to support their poor mother, etc.” MADAME DUPIN, PATRON AND FRIEND OF ROUSSEAU. Wife of the farmer-general Claude Dupin, owner of the Château de Chenonceau, Louise-Marie-Madeleine de Fontaine (1706–1799) was the illegitimate daughter of the great financier Samuel Bernard and hosted the most brilliant Parisian salon of her time, frequented by Cardinal de Bernis, Buffon, Fontenelle, the Abbé de Saint-Pierre, and Voltaire. Rousseau was introduced to her in 1743; he fell in love with her, declared his passion, and then apologized for it in a letter of apology. Madame Dupin did not hold it against him and hired him as her secretary in 1745 to assist her with her literary work. Rousseau remained with her for a long time, leaving her service only in 1751, and always maintained a tender friendship with her. THE YEARS ROUSSEAU SPENT IN MADAME DUPIN’S SERVICE WERE “DECISIVE IN THE FORMATION AND INITIAL FORMULATION OF HIS IDEAS ” (Jean-Pierre Le Bouler, article on Madame Dupin in *Dictionnaire de Jean-Jacques Rousseau*, ed. Raymond Trousson and Frédéric Eigeldinger, p. 263).